Ambassador Andrew Young to speak at Urban League dinner

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) – An icon of the civil rights movement is in the Gateway City.

Andrew Young is a minister, former Mayor of Atlanta, congressman and U.N. ambassador.

He was with Dr. Martin Luther King when he was assassinated.

Young was the guest of honor at a private lunch at Webster University this morning.

He said Americans often see racial problems where there are no problems, and that families and friends need to work harder to peacefully resolve conflicts among themselves.

"Ninety percent of black people killed are killed by other black people, and 84 percent of white people killed are killed by other white people," he said. "So it's not a race problem that we have: it's a violence problem."

Young pointed to the case of a Jacksonville, Florida man recently convicted of attempted murder.

Michael Dunn shot into a car full of teens playing loud music.

A 17-year-old boy died. But the jury couldn't reach a verdict on a first degree murder charge.

"It's a tragic thing when a young man gets killed for playing his records too loud," Young said. "But I don't know that that's racism, that's just a kooky guy."

Ambassador Young is the keynote speaker at Monday's 96th annual Urban League dinner.